


Sky's the Limit

by dreamlittleyo



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Romance, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 14:22:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15002726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamlittleyo/pseuds/dreamlittleyo
Summary: In which Angelica has spent a year running from her feelings, and Eliza proposes an alternative.





	Sky's the Limit

**Author's Note:**

> (Prompt: Forget)

It's ungodly late when the knock sounds at Angelica's apartment door.

She's still wide awake—she only got home half an hour ago—but she glances at the clock in confusion. Almost two in the morning. Who can that possibly be at this hour?

The knock comes again as she's crossing her living room, but it's a light sound. Oddly tentative. There's nothing aggressive or impatient about it, and that's... a little weird, honestly.

She peers through the peephole, squashing down a twinge of anxiety—sometimes it sucks living alone in a big city—glad of the fact she's still dressed to take on the world.

Then she actually _sees_ who's standing on the other side of that door, and every scrap of tension evaporates with a disbelieving laugh. She undoes the chain, throws back the bolt, twists the lock, and opens the door wide.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demands.

Eliza breezes into the apartment with a bright smile and an air of belonging _exactly_ where she is, never mind the startled question. She doesn't answer, instead scoops Angelica into a hug so tight neither one of them can breathe.

Or maybe it's not the tightness of the hug stopping the breath in Angelica's chest. Maybe it's the avalanche of feelings at seeing her sister's face, the crush of familiar arms hold her close. It's been nearly a year with no direct contact. And while her exile has been entirely self-imposed, Angelica still aches with missing her sister. Every goddamn day.

She wraps her arms around Eliza in return, holding on hard and tucking her chin over her sister's narrow shoulder.

"It's good to see you," Angelica says, and the words are barely more than a whisper.

"I've missed you." Eliza's voice is heavy, thick with emotions too complicated for Angelica to parse. There's something helpless in that tone, for all that Eliza speaks more steadily.

It takes a long time for Angelica to let go. When she moves to withdraw, she half expects her sister to keep holding on. But Eliza lets go too, quick and smooth, and when Angelica steps back she finds only a soft smile waiting for her.

"You didn't answer my question." Stubbornness helps Angelica continue in a normal cadence. "What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood." Eliza gives an unconvincing shrug. "Did you think I'd forget my own sister's birthday?"

Angelica doesn't point out that there's no business Eliza could possibly have in the neighborhood _besides_ this visit. The Schuylers have no connections here, professional or personal. It's the entire reason Angelica chose _this law school_ when she made her plans to run the fuck away.

Which means Eliza made the trip for her—and _only_ her—and that is a fact Angelica doesn't dare consider.

"Well. Welcome. Do you want anything to drink?" Angelica's been working on a massive tumbler of water since she got home—she's been sober for an hour, but she's hydrating anyway—and she picks it up from an end table as she turns toward the kitchen.

"No." Eliza follows a step behind. "Thank you." Then, like she's trying to pass it off as an afterthought," You look nice."

Angelica arches an eyebrow and leans a hip against the kitchen counter. " _Nice_ , huh?" She knows damn well she looks good tonight. She dressed up for the occasion.

She may not be on intimate terms with anyone from her cohort, but she's got plenty of casual friends. A whole crowd of people who insisted on taking her out for drinks to celebrate. Now, home for the night and ready to decompress, she's still wearing the tight sweater and perfect makeup she brandished like armor through the evening.

Instead of rising to the bait and responding in kind, Eliza stands straighter. "Beautiful. You look beautiful.

Angelica freezes with her water halfway to her mouth. Her face is suddenly warm, her chest chilly with a feeling like panic, her eyes startle-wide as she stares at her sister. Fuck, there's too much meaning in those words. Too many things they don't goddamn talk about. Eliza's never been so blunt or direct, not in all the scattered years they've been dancing around this thing, and Angelica has no idea what to say.

"Eliza," she starts, but her voice catches in her throat. She recognizes this path, recognizes a pulse of longing somewhere deep inside. Worse, she sees a perfect reflection of that longing in her sister's eyes.

"I know," Eliza says, and it sounds so simple. So impossibly straightforward. "It's okay."

Angelica shakes her head and sets her water down on the counter.

"It's _not_ okay." The words feel jagged on her tongue, in her throat. "I love you more than anything, but you _can't be here_."

" _I know_ ," Eliza repeats, but she eases farther into the kitchen. Makes it impossible to ignore her presence as she slips into Angelica's space by cautious degrees.

"I left for a reason," Angelica says softly, but she doesn't retreat. Even when Eliza is standing directly in front of her, close enough that all it would take is a slight lean and they'd be touching.

"You left to protect me." Eliza's eyes are warm, a particular and eloquent shade of brown that Angelica has never forgotten in her months away. There's so much affection flashing there now, alongside a flicker of heat that leaves Angelica both guilty and hungry at once. "But Ang, you don't need to protect me from this."

"Yes I do," Angelica insists, but her resolve is weakening. A year apart hasn't eased the unwelcome wanting in her chest; if anything the affliction has grown worse.

Eliza shakes her head, an emphatic gesture. "You're wrong. You're wrong about _everything_. Running away only helps if all this is _your fault_."

"It is my fault," Angelica snaps. "You're my _little sister_. How can this be anyone's fault but mine?"

"I'm a grown woman," Eliza counters smoothly. She raises one hand to touch Angelica's cheek, curling long fingers along the side of her face. "And I've _missed you_. I never wanted you to go."

"I had to. I'm not supposed to feel this way about you." But she covers Eliza's hand with her own, holds it there as though terrified of losing this single point of contact.

"We can't decide how we feel." Eliza's tone is so gentle now. Coaxing and confessional. "Why make ourselves miserable when we want the same thing?"

Then, moving in slowly—giving Angelica every opportunity to evade—Eliza kisses her. Soft and tentative and yet, God, so _eager_. Angelica breathes a helpless sound even as she wraps an arm around Eliza's waist and tucks her close. Her heart is a stampede of terror behind her ribs and her head is spinning, every sense alight with the coveted warmth of Eliza in her arms.

It's only their second kiss. Angelica ran away after their first.

She won't be strong enough to run away again.

"Okay?" Eliza asks when the kiss finally ends.

Angelica stares, dumbfounded and lost. It takes several seconds to scrounge enough of a voice to answer, "Yes."

One word. One simple, damning, desperately hopeful word. A confession all its own, and Angelica's heart nearly splits in two at the way Eliza lights up in answer. The smile spreading across her sister's face is wild with affection, and once again Angelica cannot breathe.

" _Fuck_ ," Angelica says, and Eliza smiles even wider.

"How early do you need to be up in the morning?"

"I don't," Angelica admits. "No classes, and I took the day off work."

"Great." Eliza snuggles in close and tucks her head beneath Angelica's jaw. "Because I'm caffeinated as hell. How about you loan me some pajamas and we binge all the Star Wars we can fit in before sunrise?"

Angelica laughs, startled and bright. "I'm not sure I can stay awake that long."

Eliza eases back and meets her eyes with a sparkle of fondness. "It's okay if you fall asleep. The movies will end the same."

"Okay," Angelica agrees, and kisses Eliza again.


End file.
